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He may be one of the elite young players in hockey, but the championship chase has not been a fruitful pursuit for Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.

In less than a week that could all change, of course, as the 25-year-old Markham, Ont. native gets a chance to take care of such business on the ice rather than off of it.

Already in his career, Stamkos has had two bitterly disappointing Canadian Olympic team experiences -- one, the heartbreak of not being selected for the 2010 Vancouver Games and the other, an excruciating bad break when a shattered bone in his right leg ultimately kept him out of the 2014 Sochi tournament.

And now, four games into this Stanley Cup final vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, Stamkos finds himself facing a golden opportunity of a different kind. A seven-game series reduced to a best-of-three is there for the taking, both for the Lightning and their young leader.

Held without a goal through the first four games of the series, the frustration is building in Stamkos, but his drive and desire isn’t diminished in the slightest. Recognizing the demands that come with his elite reputation, the former 50-goal scorer is well aware that he can be the difference maker vs. the Hawks.

“I expect more from myself,” Stamkos said Thursday, a day after he just missed a massive, last-minute opportunity to tie the game in a 2-1 series-squaring loss back in Chicago. “Hopefully the chances keep coming. You probably can’t get two better looks than I had there in the last minute (on Wednesday).

“It’s not easy to win the Stanley Cup. You put so much sacrifice, so much time, so much effort ... it’s a real mental grind and a test of everyone’s will. Hopefully the chances keep coming. You know eventually they are going to go.”

The most convenient measure of a superstar such as Stamkos is what appears on the scoresheet and like Chicago counterparts Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Lightning centre hasn’t been a factor in that regard thus far in the final. Second in the NHL in goals with 43 (trailing only Alex Ovechkin’s 52) in the regular season, Stamkos has just seven in 24 games for the Lightning and not one vs. the Hawks.

That doesn’t mean his presence isn’t felt in the series, however, nor that he isn’t experiencing personal and professional growth from the experience.

“The kid wants to win, his heart is in the right place,” Lightning assistant coach Rick Bowness said. “He has become a real solid, two-way player. He works very hard without the puck.

“Yeah, he’s not scoring, but watch him work without the puck, watch him back-check, watch him finish checks. All those little things that everyone needs to do to win. (Hawks captain) Jonathan Toews has won Cups doing it that way.

“(Stamkos) is trying to become a complete player and I have nothing but respect for him.”

Though he has yet to score, the Lightning are hardly relying less on Stamkos in the final. In fact, he’s averaged almost 21 minutes over the past two games, a workload that is expected to continue when the series resumes here at the Amalie Arena on Saturday night.

There is certainly no denying the drive of Stamkos, whose recovery from the broken leg last year inspired his teammates though was just a tad too late to make it to the Team Canada group headed for Russia.

In 2010, he was just a 19-year-old kid, albeit one of the fastest rising stars in the game, so when he was left off the Vancouver roster, controversy followed. The noise drowned when Canada captured gold, but the motivation fuelled Stamkos to continue his rise among the league elite.

Then came more disaster. The Olympic dreams of 2014 appeared to be shattered along with the broken right tibia he sustained three months before the Sochi Games. Despite a torrid rehab and recovery, Stamkos could not return in time.

While both of those blows were hard on Stamkos, he says the prospect of winning the Cup would trump what was left behind.

“I think everyone wants to represent their country on the highest stage,” said Stamkos, who won gold for Canada at the 2008 world junior championship. “But as a kid growing up wanting to be an NHL player, first and foremost, you want to win a Stanley Cup.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to be put in the position we are right now to be two wins away from ultimately our dream. That is our main focus right now.”

It’s easy to forget that at age 25, Stamkos could well have his best years ahead of him and multiple chances at his sport’s big prizes. Already, he has added a reputation as a leader to his prowess and accomplishments on the ice, the reason he is the Lightning captain.

“Everybody thinks (Stamkos) is a little older than he is because he’s been in the league seven years, everything he’s accomplished,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “But he’s still a pretty young guy, age-wise. When guys walk into the locker room, Steven has an aura about himself, about what he’s accomplished in the league.

“When he walks in, he’s welcoming, he’s just a regular guy with the guys. He doesn’t walk by guys thinking he’s better than anybody else. I think that’s what makes him a leader.”

The next step, obviously, is to accept a Stanley Cup and hoist it over his head, much as it was a defining moment of Toews’ leadership back in 2010 and again in 2013.

Stamkos may not be there yet, though it’s getting closer. And the opportunity that awaits over what may ultimately be the most significant week of his career would more than make up for those other disappointments in his past.